True Blue Librarian | Sharing quality children's picture books

Tag Archives: Scholastic

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the mummies, mums, mummas, grannies, grandmas and nannas out there!

How I Love You, Mummy by Anna Pignataro

To celebrate, I’d like to share with you Anna Pignataro’s How I Love You, Mummy. I’m a big fan of Pignataro’s books that so beautifully illustrate the parent-child relationship. A favourite when my children were tiny was her book Always, so I was very excited when I came across this title, published in 2014.

In How I Love You, Mummy, we follow a number of Australian baby animals to see how they each physically express their love for their mothers. Little Red Dingo nuzzles Mummy’s nose and Little Sooty Owl nestles beneath Mummy’s feathery wings. My favourite would have to be Baby Possum who cradles Mummy’s face and says, “This is how I love you, Mummy.”

With the only repetition in the story being this special line spoken by each baby animal, little readers will no doubt be joining in and wanting to express their own unique way of showing their love for their mother (or another special someone). Each re-reading could see “Mummy” replaced with the name of whoever is reading the story, allowing the child to also connect with other family members.

As always, Pignataro’s artwork is simple and subtle and beautifully depicts our Australian flora and fauna.

Suitable for ages 0-5, How I Love You, Mummy will delight readers and is guaranteed to foster the very special bond between parent and child.

Mopoke loves peace and quiet but he is about to find out that you can’t always get what you want.

If you’re after a hilarious read to enjoy with your toddler, then look no further. Mopoke is one of those rare titles that will have you and your child sharing a laugh and having fun with as few words as possible. In fact, there are only about twenty-six different words in the entire book.

Author and illustrator, Philip Bunting, has centred his picture book around the southern boobook, Australia’s smallest and most common species of owl, also known as the mopoke after it’s distinctive call.

Mopoke by Philip Bunting

We are introduced to the character on the first page:

“This is a mopoke.”

After which we are told:

“This is a highpoke.”

And:

“This is a lowpoke.”

As you can imagine, the illustrations work perfectly alongside the text to add an element of fun. As we progress, we see the mopoke in increasingly amusing situations. My personal favourite would have to be the seemingly random appearance of a confused-looking wombat.

On his website, Bunting explains that by using as few words as possible, he intended for the reader to bring their own interpretation to the story and to be creative in their expression. He encourages the reader to “increase intonation, experiment with volume, [and to] play with pauses.” All of this variety in how we use our voices during story-telling adds to and enhances the shared book experience. It’s what makes it fun! And with the repetitive phrases and so very little text, you toddler will be “reading” the book with you in no time. So get creative and have some bookish fun!

Published in February 2017 by Scholastic, Mopoke is a must-have for every young child’s bookshelf.